Forum:36: Change and Introspection
The party attended the state funeral of the Librennian soldiers and aid workers who had died in the greater Snezhnian conflict, and though an effort was made to hide it, the Queen of Librem included the deceased Leonard Plunkett in the honours. The group also received payment for their services from Edith Harper, who said that she would have a follow up request for them before being mysteriously driven away by the arrival of someone new. The someone new in question was a bearded and smartly dressed man who introduced himself to the party as George Ritter. He explained that he had been hired by the Admiralty of Librem to investigate the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the Sagitta, and as such formed the basis of the opposition in the court cases from the past few months. He informed the group that he wanted them to know that he was grateful for the efforts they had undertaken on Librem's behalf, but was also curious to know what the basis of their relationship with Edith Harper was, and when pressed, went on to explain that it was his belief that Edith Harper is a dangerous woman who poses a threat to Librem through her control of Military Intelligence. He went on to tell the party that she had been married to a Lordinian in the past when she worked as an Intelligence agent, and killed him and two of her own children when defecting back to Librem. He expressed a sincere hope to see the party realize the dangers of working with Harper, and bid the party an awkward farewell. The group then met with Ozymandias (also known as Little Guy) who was in the custody of Librennian Intelligence's Magic Research Division, and Ten Tongues introduced him as his son and potential replacement for his place in the party since he would now be focusing on working in Snezhny to improve the lot of science and medicine in the world. Ozymandias, for his part, struck the group as jovial and open, albeit possibly too young for the sort of dangerous adventures the group was party to. However, the duo from Magic Research attested to his skills, and Little Guy himself claimed that he was undergoing training and licensing to use firearms and ride gryphons per Librennian military standards. The group opts to use what time they have to return to Hafuujou and make further preparations for their upcoming adventures. Lin trains with an operative of NEST by the name of Shigeru Tajiri and learns more about the culture of Sogeki. Yahtuh meets once more with Chihiro cult high priestess Sunset, who asks him if he will become her knight and use Chihiro's powers to spread joy and reject the power of death that resides in him. Artyom then dines with the Empress and various Hafuujou heads of state, and learns about the decisions that he will have to make for his country's future, whether autocratic or democratic, and what he needs to do to make his country flourish.